Thursday, June 14, 2007

More from the triplets of Fordham

This note from Christopher was in my inbox this morning.

Date: June 13, 2007 11:00:08 PM EDTSubject: The kids come home, but not for long

To date, I'm not aware of anybody observing any Red-Tail fledgings at Fordham in 2007 (I was lucky enough to see one in 2006), and at this point, it doesn't seem likely that anyone will--all three have fledged, but it's hard to estimate when the third one went, because early this afternoon, two young Red-Tails were seen resting inside the pediment on Collins Hall--at least one of the kids had come home to roost. Therefore, I was either looking at one fledged and one unfledged bird--or two fledges.

(Photo credit - Christopher Lyons)

Around the same time, Hawkeye and Rose were once again surveying their territory from the Neogothic spires of Keating Hall (built in 1936, but it does look awfully medieval). Rose was later seen perched inside the globe-shaped weathervane on top of Theodore Roosevelt High School, just outside the campus, which I like to refer to as 'The Sphere of Influence'. She kept returning to this spot, and I eventually caught her swooping in.

(Photo credit - Christopher Lyons)

When I checked back in the evening, things had changed quite a bit. I believe I saw all three fledglings, but not at the same time. One was on top of Collins Hall, one on nearby Loyola Hall, and one on Hughes Hall--they are definitely making the rounds. The final picture is of a fledgling on Loyola Hall--right over an architectural cartouche representing the Great Seal of Fordham. The stylized IHS stands for Jesus' initials in Latin, and emblazoned upon the shield is the university motto--'Sapientia et Doctrina'--Wisdom and Knowledge. No mention of instinct, but it's not a university's job to teach that. And there are all kinds of wisdom.